A beeping sound came from nearby. Suddenly shattering robonoids came flying into the dome.
"What the!" Lars yelled.
The robonauts began firing at the gems.
"HOLY CRAP!" Lars yelled, running for cover. Even though he didn't have a gem he could still get caught in the crossfire.
Lars had thought Steven didn't believe in shattering gems. The robonuats didn't seem to be shattering gems, just zapping gems and causing their forms to dissapate.
But Lars did see a few unlucky gems take blasts right to their gems.
Emerald was caught between three different robonoids. Even if the bots weren't aiming to kill the odds of her surviving three blasts were slim.
Emerald backed herself up against a wall. Could she try to run? She knew what these robots did, they were homeworld weapons. She had never been on the recieving end of one.
"EMERALD!" a voice yelled. Lars sprinted into the ring of robonoids as they began to scan...
And shoved her face into his chest.
"HEY!" Emerald yelled, trying to pull away.
"STOP STRUGGLING!" Lars yelled back, holding her head in place.
The robonoids scanned but didn't pick anything up. As soon as they moved on Lars grabbed Emerald's hand and dragged her to safetey.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?"
"I just saved your life. You're welcome." Lars said.
"WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING!" Emerald yelled.
"I don't know! Steven must be doing it!" Lars yelled back.
"Then unfuse and tell him to stop!" Emerald cried.
"Unfuse?" Lars asked. "Steven's back on earth."
"So you're not a fusion of the Steven?" Emerald asked.
"That's what you thought?" Lars snorted. "Nope. I am 100% Lars."
"Yippee." Emerald sighed. "Anyways make the Steven stop! Aren't you two aquainted? Why is he attacking you?"
"He thinks I left homeworld a long time ago." Lars said.
"So there's no way to stop this." Emerald said.
"Not that I'm aware of." Lars said. "Thank god the crew's already on the ship. They should be out of danger."
"Well lucky them...SUNNY'S BEEN HERE THE WHOLE TIME?" Emerald screamed.
"Bingo bongo" Lars smirked.
"AAAAAGH!" Emerald screamed, kicking the wall.
Lars could hear the robonoids outside the building. "We should get to higher ground."
"Fine." Emerald sighed, walking over to a panel. "Are you coming or not?"
"Didn't think I was invited." Lars said, dashing after her.
As the doors slammed shut the two were enclosed in darkness.
"What is this place?" Lars asked.
"You mean you can't tell?" Emerald asked sweetly.
"IT'S DARK!"
"Fine, hang on a second." Emerald said. A green glow filled the room.
"Wow." Lars said, looking around. "I still don't know what this place is."
"It's an escape route." Emerald said. "Only the most important gems can use it. They were built back during the rebellion so that if there was an attack the important gems could escape."
"Oh." Lars said. "So this place is for important gems?"
"Yes."
"Then what are you doing here?"
Emerald's foot slammed into Lars' stomach. "I AM AN IMPORTANT GEM!"
Lars laughed/coughed. "Well then why are you so important?"
"Because I was one of the finest warriors and pilots in the gem war." Emerald said. "I was unbeatable especially with my ship."
"Ok." Lars said. "Is that why you want it back so badly? Sentimental value?"
"Yes and no." Emerald said, dragging Lars up a flight of stairs. "It's a very expensive and powerful ship. One of a kind. The diamonds are not thrilled that it's missing. If I crash it or destroy it the concequences will be brutal."
"They would destroy one of their only Emeralds just for a ship?" Lars asked incrediously.
"Yes, the diamonds love showing off their power, and like all other gems I am expendable."
"Really?" Lars said teasingly. "I thought you were flawless."
A look of pain flashed onto Emerald's face.
"What? Did I hit a nerve?" Lars asked. Emerald turned away from him. "What?"
"You're crueler then I thought." Emerald said.
"What? What did I do?" Lars asked.
"YOU DON'T KNOW?" Emerald screamed. Her form glitched. "YOU RUINED ME! YOU DID THIS TO ME!" as she screamed her form dissapated and reformed.
"Woah hey!" Lars said, grabbing her shoulder. Instantly the glitching stopped. "I did that?"
"When you shoved my gem into that electrical pannel." Emerald said. "Now my gem thinks its cracked."
"Is it?" Lars asked.
"No. And Rose Quartzes can't heal it." Emerald scowled.
"Sorry." Lars said weakly.
"SORRY?" Emerald yelled. "SORRY? IF THE DIAMONDS FIND OUT THEY'LL SHATTER ME! THEY HAVE NO USE FOR ME NOW I'M FLAWED!"
"You're one of us." Lars said softly. "You're an off color."
"I am not! How dare you!" Emerald said.
"Come with us." Lars said, holding out his hand. "You'll be safe with us. We'll take you to Earth."
"I don't want to go to Earth." Emerald growled.
"Then we'll drop you off at Neptune, but come with us!" Lars said.
"Why?" Emerald said. "Why do you suddenly want me on your side?"
"Because I don't think I could live with myself if something happened to you because of me." Lars said.
Emerald's face softened. She reached out to take his hand.
The walls of the tunnel started shaking.
"What's happening?" Lars asked.
"An escape pod's taking off. It must be the diamonds, they're leaving!" Emerald said. She grabbed Lars and dragged him towards another door. Suddenly the shaking stopped.
"They're gone." Emerald said softly. "They left without me."
The panels in the room were still blinking. On one of them was an image of the sun incinerator.
"Oh no." Lars said. "They found them."
"Then we don't have much time." Emerald said. "I can reroute the ship to buy you some time."
"You would do that?" Lars asked, awestruck.
"To save my ship, yes." Emerald said. "Don't let me catch you again pirate. Now go!"
"I can't leave you!"
"GO!" Emerald yelled, and Lars sprinted away.
When Lars arrived at his ship there was no sign of the diamond's ship. Emerald must have done whatever it was she was going to do.
"CAPTAIN!" Rhodonite screamed. "YOU'RE OK!"
"Yeah I am no time to talk preapre for takeoff!" Lars said quickly. "The diamonds are coming!
That snapped the crew into actions and within seconds they had lifted off of homeworld and were speeding through space.
"I am so so so so sorry Captain!" Rhodonite said. "It's all my fault. It's my fault any of this happened."
"How is it your fault?" Lars asked.
"I was so stupid! I was so excited for the celebration and wanted to show you it so badly that I didn't realized the celebration was for another fifteen years!"
"So it was a trap." Lars said. "A very elaborate trap."
"Why are they so intent on catching us?" A rutile asked.
Lars thought back to something Emerald said. "The diamonds think that I'm a fusion of Steven and something else."
"Well it does make sense." Rhodonite said. "I don't think the diamonds know you were revived, and you could be a fusion between a rose quartz and the old Lars!"
"I guess I could." Lars said.
"And how did you know the diamonds were coming! How did you get here in time?" a rutile asked.
"Emerald." Lars said. "She delayed the diamonds. I think she's sort of on our side now."
The crew was silent.
"Do you think they'll shatter her?" Rhodonite asked in a small voice.
"Emerald's smart. I'm sure she can come up with an alibi." Lars said. "Now then, let's get to Earth! For real this time!
But deep down Lars couldn't help feeling like he had done something horrible by leaving Emerald behind.